A Chance Meeting
by Say You Wont Care
Summary: As Liam Martin heads off to cheer camp with his best friends to escape his mother he just thinks it is going to be a much needed break. Instead he finds friends in far away places... the type that you only find once in a lifetime. —for Lynx


A Chance Meeting

:a Briam story

The summer before my freshman year of high school was quite literally the most uneventful of my life. Other than the normal parties and trips to the quarry with Caroline and Bonnie, I mostly spent my days being lectured and drilled with Wiccan lore.

Suffice it to say that when it was finally time for the Mystic Falls Varsity Cheerleading Squad to leave for camp I was bounding out the door like the house was on fire. Quite literally.

I woke up early that morning, pushing out of my four poster bed and making quick work of my morning routine. The sun was barely peeking over the tops of the houses and the birds were chirping their little tunes which normally would annoy the living hell out of me but this morning was different; this morning meant a week free of my mother.

Dressing in a pair of loose khaki shorts and my varsity cheer shirt that Caroline demanded that we all wear, I quickly gathered my bags and headed for the door. As luck would have it my mother was very much still passed out so I made it out of the house and to Bonnie's with no hiderance.

The sky was clear as I walked to her front door and knocked lightly just in case someone might be still asleep. It was warm, even this early, the summer sun warmed the quiet town making it more than comfortable as I waited on the Bennett front porch.

Even from here I could see my house just a few doors down and I became anxious that my mother might come out and call me back to the house if I waited out here much longer. The sound of the door opening behind me was all too welcome, turning to spot Bonnie smiling at me with her hair in identical braids on either side of her head.

"Li," she greeted, pulling me inside, "You're up early."

I laughed, "Yeah, wanted to avoid the beast."

"I do not blame you." She said, showing me to the kitchen.

Bonnie and Caroline knew about as much about my mom as I could tell them without exposing my supernatural secret. Fortunately for me on the occasions my mother had interacted with either girl she had only backed up my story that she was a snobby, manipulative, religious freak who looked down her nose at everyone and everything. It wasn't far from the truth, honestly. If you looked at witchcraft as a religion then I had told the complete truth.

An hour or so passed, the two of us having breakfast and entertaining ourselves, and finally Bonnie's father appeared and beckoned us to the car. The drive wasn't far, we could have walked it really, but Mr. Bennett insisted on dropping us off and waiting until we were both loaded on the bus safely. Ever since Bonnie's mother had ran off he had been this way, protectively doting on her which annoyed her to no end and made me a little envious.

Finding Caroline already onboard with Elena at her side, she directed us to the seat across from hers and pulled her bag out of it. Taking our saved seat, the four of us fell into the conversation with the other two easily enough as the bus began to pull out of the parking lot.

The drive to Charleston, South Carolina was a long one but we barely even noticed as the four of us got caught up in each other's company (well, as far as I was concerned Elena wasn't there, but that's irrelevant). Six or so hours later and we were pulling into the hotel that was hosting the cheer camp and were exiting the bus and waiting as our rooms were assigned.

"Oh, that's so not fair." Elena complained.

I rolled my eyes as I took my room key.

Caroline, sensing conflict, spoke before I could, "He's the only guy on the team, Elena. Who else is he supposed to room with? Coach Fell?"

"I think not." Coach Fell interrupted, giving us her usual stern look. "That would be highly inappropriate."

Being the only guy on a squad did have certain perks.

Ignoring the begrudging look Elena was giving me, Bonnie and I headed together to the elevators as we noticed the various squads that were all arriving. It appeared teams from all over were attending the event and I found myself fascinated by the mix of different people from all over the U.S.

I pushed the button for the elevator, waiting as a group of girls found their way behind us. Now I am not one to typically eavesdrop, but the brunette behind me talked so loudly that it was hard to not hear her and her voice was particularly unique on top of that.

"Peyton, come on." She said firmly, her voice a husky, smouldering sound.

It was odd to describe a girl's voice as 'husky' but there was no other proper description of it that I could think of. She sounded as if she might be losing her voice, but also it didn't sound like that at all. It was a raspy sort of sound that was pleasant on the ears, and above all I else I was sure there was no one in the world who had a voice quite like hers.

She continued on, "You and Nathan fight all the time. He's a dick. You'll have great makeup sex when we get back, but I need you focused. We have to get ourselves on point because it will be time for the Classic before you know it."

If this Peyton responded to her I didn't hear anything other than an annoyed, sort of submissive but also dismissive grunt. The other girl clapped her hands together excitedly and I guessed that she considered that a win.

A crisp ding followed by the sliding of the elevator doors had me and Bonnie moving in unison inside and turning to catch my first glimpse of the girls. I knew at once that the blonde on the left was Peyton, her look of annoyance and disdain clear for all to see. Her mess of curly hair was pulled back in a clip and she wore a leather jacket and sunglasses paired with her cheerleading uniform that screamed 'Meh, I don't care'.

The girl on the right had dark brown hair, cropped to her shoulders but was styled in such a way that said that she spent no less than a couple hundred on a haircut. Her eyes were bright and stunning, and even though her friend was pretty, she was a knockout. The smile on her face showed that she was a girl who had the world at her feet and not a care in the world… just looking at her made me miss my sister dearly.

"Look, Brooke," Peyton said as they entered and turned their backs to us. "I'll do this, cause you're my best friend, but don't you dare think about making me dance to another damn Britney Spears song."

At once, the other girl and I gave Peyton the exact same look of disdain. Who the hell didn't like Britney?! It was appalling. Brooke flipped her hair as if she had read my mind and agreed that this was a travesty and I was really glad that neither of them could see my face.

"P. Sawyer, I know you're a Billy Idol badass or whatever, but you really need to lighten up." Her voice was every bit as disproving as the look on my face. "Britney is a cheer goddess and to say otherwise is blasphemy. We won't have your negativity being the stench on what is to be my shining debut as Tree Hill cheer captain."

Peyton rolled her eyes and looked at Brooke just as Bonnie ribbed me with her elbow. I scowled in her direction as it hurt, but soon gave her an apologetic look. From the look on her face I had not been very discrete in my eavesdropping and already my cheeks were flushing with color.

The two girls talked on but I tried to mind my business and was thankful when they got off a floor before us. With the elevator clear except for Bonnie and I, I laughed openly and was glad that she was too.

"I'm so sorry, I could not help it."

She continued to laugh, "No, I get it, it was hard not to listen with how loud that girl was, but at least try not to be so obvious."

The elevator dinged and the two of us got off and made our way to our rooms.

"You know me," I said, grinning, "My face tells a thousand different emotions before I even speak a word."

"Ain't that the truth." She teased.

I left Bonnie to enter her room where Caroline was waiting on her and headed a few doors down to my own. With a room to myself I soaked up some much needed alone time and decompressed a little. When it was finally time to go down for Orientation later and the girls came to get me I was already dressed in our Mystic Falls practice gear and feeling a little more sociable than I had after that long drive.

For the girls, they wore maroon short shorts with white trimming and matching maroon tank tops with Mystic Falls in bold letters. Both Caroline and Bonnie had their hair in high ponytails with maroon and white ribbons in them. The practice gear for me was simply a pair of maroon sweats (I really wanted shorts but apparently I didn't get a say despite being the only guy) and a muscle shirt that matched the girl's shirts… and no, there was no ribbon in my hair.

The process of orientation was simple enough, each squad going up on the blue mats to be introduced and then do a short routine that we had prepared in advance. I watched curiously as each went up and did their thing, but it was vague curiosity at best until the loud girl's team was announced.

As I stood between my best friends and watched Tree Hill take the stage I noted that they were a more modest than most of the others here, but as Brooke lead them in a cheer and a few lifts I had to say that they more than held their own. As U watched I began to realize that Caroline and Brooke reminded me a lot of each other, but I would have bet money that Care was way more neurotic.

Finally our time to go up on stage came and we cheered our way onto the blue, springboard mats. Caroline called for the start of the actual routine and we went silent before yelling the practiced words in unison. The mix that Caroline had taken weeks agonizing over started once our cheer ended, a brief dance break followed by a short tumbling pass by myself, Caroline and one of the others who could actual flip.

The music finished and we stood smiling in the front as Bonnie and Elena were held up in lifts by the other girls behind us. For Caroline this had been simple, but compared to most of the other routines I had seen this was a little more on the complex side. Even from the shocked looks on the faces before us I could tell that they were wondering when exactly we had started practicing.

If I could have I would have told them that we literally had our first practice immediately after tryouts.

We made our way off stage and back amongst the other cheerleaders and once all of the other teams had been announced and given their chance to shine we were told when roll call was in the morning and what the next day would consist of.

It was sure to be a hectic day, no doubt.

When we were finally dismissed, everyone either heading to the pool or back up to their rooms. Me? I was heading up to my room. I knew this week was going to be exhausting and even though I was a gymnast, I was severely out of practice and was going to end up being very sore from flexing those unused memory muscles… as well as actual muscles. There was no doubt in my mind that Caroline was going to take full advantage of my training in every routine.

And so she did.

The week was long and grueling. Tirelessly working on our every detail from our jumps, to our choreography, and in my case a lot of tumbling. By the final day of camp Caroline had me throwing a double back handspring full twisting layout. The back handsprings were manageable, the full on the other hand I had not done since I was about eleven. I managed, though.

Each team set to perform, we were judged and graded by the ACA cheerleaders who were coaching us all week long. I was really just glad that we weren't competing against each other or else Caroline would have gone full dictator mode.

The team was ranked ACA All Star, with myself getting All Star in tumbling, Caroline in choreography, and a few of the others getting individual rewards. When I sat down to watch Tree Hill perform I had to say that I was not paying much attention. My body knew that it was time to rest and relax and that we were done and all of the exhaustion I had been ignoring made itself known.

Finally the performances were all done, the teams were all ranked and we were released to go enjoy the rest of the night. As much as I wanted to take my ass up to my room and go to bed there was no way that was going to happen. Having made a promise to Bonnie to enjoy the last night, I waited for the elevator to go back up and get changed.

"Hey, cheer boy."

I turned on reflex, internally grimacing at myself for allowing that cliche title to get my attention. Expecting it to be some heckler I was pleasantly surprised when Brooke was standing there with Peyton and a few of her other cheerleaders.

"Uh, name's Liam, but what's up?" I asked, brow raised.

"You aren't dipping out on the fun again right?" She asked, gesturing to the pool.

I laughed, a little shocked she had even noticed, "Uh, no. Made a promise to my best friend. Just gotta go change."

Brooke shot Peyton a teasing look, "See, now that is a best friend."

"Oh bite me." Peyton said, leaving her to head to the pool.

Man, her legs were bony.

I blinked and looked from the blonde to Brooke and waited for a point.

"Anyways, my name is Brooke. We should hang." She gave me a smile that was somewhere between flirty and friendly, I really wasn't sure.

"Uh— yeah, sure." I said lamely.

Smirking, the girl left me standing at the elevators as she walked away with her giggly gaggle of girls. I watched them for a moment, or at least until the elevator had arrived. It wasn't every day that girls borderline hit on me, so as I stood alone waiting to arrive on my floor I was a bit perplexed.

Had she hit on me or was that just her personality? It was really hard to tell.

Once I was changed into my white designer swimming trunks, armed with flip flops and a towel, I headed back down to find my friend's as quickly as I possibly could. Shirtless, I was all lean muscle, always had been as I had been trained since birth to be something my mother wanted me to be. But it wasn't like I stood out, not in this crowd. All of the girls around the indoor pool were all clearly athletes, fit bodies as far as the eye could see.

Being one of two or three guys there I felt like I did actually stand out like a sore thumb, however. It wasn't a fun feeling.

As I joined Bonnie and Caroline on the edge of the pool I spotted Brooke not too far away. She offered a smiled and waved to me, beckoning me over as my friends both gave me a curious look.

"Who's that?" Caroline asked.

Bonnie laughed, "You made friend's with the loud girl?"

I could not help but laugh at the nickname, wondering how Brooke would feel about that.

"Yeah, she stopped me before the pool. Let's go over."

Bonnie shrugged and got up from dipping her feet in the water while Caroline looked more apprehensive. I wasn't surprised by Caroline's reaction. In fact it was quite expected as to her the others girls screamed 'competition'. Eventually she decided to join us, walking together as Brooke stood waiting with Peyton and a few members of her own squad.

I had been about to greet her and introduce her to my friends when we were all stopped short of speaking as a blonde, stout girl walked up and tapped Brooke on the shoulder. The girl had one of those faces like she was constantly smelling something really bad, face screwed up in a look of judgement and disdain as if she were the only one in the room who could do anything right. The sad part was she was smirking and she still looked that way.

Caroline, true to form, already knew who the girl was, "Ew, Claire Young. Why?"

The girl stopped short, looking around Brooke to us, "Why what?"

I looked back and forth between them, feeling more than a little confused.

"Why do you exist?" Caroline clapped back.

Peyton and Brooke exchanged looks and laughed heartily along with the rest of the Tree Hill Ravens within earshot. It was apparent that all of these girls knew each other and I was just the odd man out. Even Bonnie wore a judgey look towards the girl, though she did not laugh along with everyone else.

The girl tossed her hair over her shoulder as if Care had never spoke.

"Anyways," she said with a roll of her eyes, "It was real cute what you and your little squad did on stage. Can't wait to see what lame excuse for a routine you come up with for the Sparkle Classic."

"Yeah, I bet it will be tragic." Some follower called at her side.

There was silence as no one said a word. Brooke's face was screwed up in utter disdain as if she were biting her tongue hard enough to make it bleed while Peyton gripped her arm to keep her from lunging for Claire.

"Tragic, just like everything else Brooke Davis and the backwater Ravens come up with." Claire said, crossing her arms.

This girl was real proud of herself, like she had really come up with some witty line that blew it out of the park. No one, including myself, was impressed.

I leaned around Brooke, stepping up properly, "Um, excuse me, is this for real?"

The girl's cruel eyes set on me but she did not bother speaking.

"Is what real?" Her friend said, sounding as dumb as the look on her face.

"You, your whole squad. You walked your tired asses all the way over here just to try and come for Brooke. Does she really bother you that much?"

Claire deflated, looking around for some kind of support.

Caroline didn't give time, "Yeah, it's clear you see her as a threat, maybe you should be working a little more on landing with your feet together after a toe touch?"

"Or just work on your toe touches all together and try to stop stealing your moves from literally every scene of Bring It On." Bonnie chimed in, never one to watch someone get bullied.

My eyes set on Brooke, who looked remarkably astonished that this support had come as she looked from me and to my friends. I had a gut feeling Caroline was only defending Brooke because she hated Claire more but either way it had definitely worked out in her favor.

"Bye Claire." Peyton said, calling my attention to the blonde.

Brooke seemed to finally get her wits about her as she added, "You can go shave your back now."

As if it were a self conscious tick the girl's hand jerked up to touch at the back of her shoulder as if she were feeling for hair. Her lips parted to say something in return but as if we were all waiting for the cue every single one of us turned away and formed a circle.

"Does she do that all the time?" I asked, talking over Claire in the process.

"Every time she sees Brooke it's immediately a pissing contest." Peyton responded.

We all laughed and it seemed that Claire and her friends got the point because when I looked over my shoulder they were retreating. With my focus back on the circle of girls, I noticed that Brooke looked beyond flattered, rubbing her upper arm with her hand.

"Wow," she said, "Thank you, all of you."

I offered a genuine smile, "No problem."

"Yeah," Caroline waved a hand dismissively, "Everyone knows Claire is an uber bitch. I am Caroline, by the way."

"She's only slightly more of a bitch than Caroline." Bonnie teased and introduced herself as her and Care shared a laugh.

Peyton and Brooke both followed suit, telling my friends their names, and then then introduced the other two Ravens for good measure, Theresa and Bevin. I strongly resisted the urge to comment on the one girls name, and was thankful for Theresa saying something really foolish that had Brooke chiding her with embarrassment.

We spent the rest of our time by the pool together, laughing and wading in the water. As I got to know Brooke a little better I found that she did indeed remind me of a combination of my sister and Caroline, but there was more to her than all of that. Brooke had a look of greatness, and that is not to say the other girls did not, but one could look at Brooke Davis and tell that she was going to change the world someday.

When the night had been brought to an end we all walked together back to the elevators, but I noticed Brooke hanging back in the already empty pool area. She gathered her things in a deliberately slow manner, one that made me stop. Telling Care and Bonnie that I would see them in the morning, I walked back to her with a curious expression.

"You good?" I asked.

She seemed to just come out of a day dream, "Oh— uh, yeah. Sorry."

"No need to apologize."

"I guess it is a good thing I bumped into you, Liam Martin." Brooke said as she shouldered her bag.

I shrugged, "Something tells me you would have managed. You have a sharp tongue."

"True." She qualified.

Walking together, we moved towards the elevators, falling into a comfortable silence. I won't lie, a part of me was wary that she was going to hit on me, but in true Brooke Davis fashion she was blunt and to the point without me voicing a thing.

"You know I wasn't hitting on you earlier, right?"

I sputtered and then laughed, "I mean, I wasn't sure."

She rolled her eyes and shoved my shoulder, "Oh please, like I am blind."

"What's that mean?"

I was really hope that she was not going to say that she could see clearly that I liked guys. Not that there was anything wrong with being ostentatious with your sexuality, but I really tried to not wear it on my sleeve… at least not all of the time.

"I mean, it was pretty clear when you didn't check out my boobs that you weren't interested." She said with a laugh and a nudge of her elbow.

"So, if I had looked at your rack?" I arched a brow.

With pursed lips, she shrugged her shoulders, "Guess we will never know."

Another silence filled only with gentle laughter from us both.

"In another life, I suppose." I said as we stepped into the elevator.

She nodded, laughing with me again.

As the elevator stopped on her floor, she walked towards the exit and hung back to give me a look. She was considering me and for the briefest of moments I got a flash of something that had me looking at her a little harder. Had that been magic I just felt?

"You should come to Tree Hill sometime, yeah? Let me show you a night with Brooke Davis."

Her words cut across my thoughts and I lost my train of thought.

"Yeah, that sounds fun."

She smirked, "We have plenty of cute boys, maybe you can turn one."

I rolled my eyes at the sentiment, but the cute boys definitely had me curious.

"Seriously, though, come visit. Don't want this to be the last time we hang. Good friends are hard to come by, and something about you is special, I can tell." She spoke as if it were a matter of fact, a compliment that almost made me blush.

Almost.

I nodded, "Promise I will come visit."

A part of me wanted to add 'as soon as my mother gets her foot off my throat', but that was not how I wanted to part with her. In case I never got to see her again I did not want some comment about my psycho mother to be the last thing she remembered.

"You better keep that promise, Liam Martin, or I will hunt your cute butt down."

"I—" I paused, turning to look over my shoulder at my butt, "It really is cute, isn't it."

It was her turn to roll her eyes as she let the doors begin to close.

"Text me, Brooke Davis!" I yelled through the doors.

She nodded, walking backwards and waving once, "Bet on it."

Waiting as I was elevated to my own floor I smiled a little to myself. If nothing else happened this summer I would at least be able to say I met a cool person. Peyton really wasn't my speed, but Brooke, she could definitely be someone I could one day call a best friend. I could only hope that, despite distance, I would be able to one day do just that. Only time would tell.


End file.
